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Jerry Melnitzke of Winter Haven has achieved lifetime membership in the Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree. Melnitzke was presented with a lifetime Fourth Degree membership card issued by the K of C Supreme Council during a meeting of the Frank J. Durbin Fourth Degree Assembly 2608 in downtown Winter Haven. Sal Porta, faithful navigator of the local assembly, made the presentation.

​Melnitzke, who joined the Knights of Columbus in a First Degree ceremony in Winter Haven nearly 30 years ago, attained Fourth Degree status along with 200 other knights from all over Florida 25 years ago in a Fourth Degree Exemplification held on Father’s Day in 1992 in Miami.

He is a long time member of Knights of Columbus Council 7091 of Cypress Gardens and a charter member of its affiliated Frank J. Durbin Fourth Degree Assembly 2608. The assembly is the patriotic/ceremonial arm of the K of C.

Over the years, Melnitzke has been a leader in both the council and assembly. His fellow knights elected him to serve two consecutive terms as Grand Knight of Council 7091 in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 Columbian years, and in 2001-02 he was elected as Faithful Navigator of the assembly. He has served both groups in other elective and appointive positions and is a member of the Fourth Degree Honor Guard.

​Melnitzke’s experience as a professional financial advisor proved valuable to the K of C council when it sold its original headquarters building in downtown Winter Haven and later purchased the building that housed Winter Haven’s original Red Lobster Restaurant and converted it into a K of C hall/Bingo palace.

​Melnitzke and his wife, Kristel, attend St. Matthew Church and have four grown children, James, Robert, Nanci and Kerrie, as well as five grandchildren. Jerry Melnitzke is retired from Allen & Company where he was a financial advisor for 13 years. He was involved in the restaurant business in Chicago and Tennessee before coming to Florida.